Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5613 to once again delay enforcement of supervision requirements on critical access hospitals. It has unfortunately become an annual ritual for us to pass legislation to block this arbitrary regulation which requires a physician to be on-site and present for the administration of most procedures, no matter how basic. As a condition of participation in the critical access program, a facility must have 25 or fewer beds, be distant from the next closest hospital, and have a physician on call and available within 30 minutes. The individuals who practice at these facilities, including doctors, nurses, physician's assistants, and nurse practitioners, have a very strong understanding of what care can be safely provided in their critical access setting and which cases should be transferred to a larger facility. However, CMS' efforts to accommodate the concerns of rural providers hasn't been to empower these professionals, but to create a limited list of procedures which can be done without a physician on-site. For this reason, I appreciate the chairman and the gentlewoman from Kansas (Ms. Jenkins) for working with me to incorporate language into this bill, which requires MedPAC to report on the economic and staffing impacts of these regulations on rural hospitals. Based on discussions I have had with hospitals across Nebraska's Third District, I expect MedPAC's findings will make a strong case for repealing this regulation outright.…”